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Authors: John D; Mimms
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to see it,â he said.
âWell itâs obvious we canât count on him,â Burt said. âEspecially as long as there is alcohol in the house ⦠and even if he runs out, well, you remember what he was like at the camp.â
The three men agreed that any plans made would not include Sam Andrews in the discussions. They would take turns babysitting him to make sure he didnât do anything stupid to harm himself or someone else.
They also agreed that there were about three days of gasoline left, give or take a few hours. It was the take part that worried them. They must prepare a Plan B in case they were unable to get more gas. The problem was, there was no Plan B, at least not a feasible one. No gas meant no electricity, which meant no light, which meant no protection from the dark. They could make it through the days with caution, but the nights would be indefensible. Also, God forbid a thunderstorm came through in the middle of the day. The unanimous decision was that they must figure some way to get out and get gas. There was no alternative. In just three days, unless this phenomenon passed, they would all be taken by the dark.
The three men walked out onto the front porch and scanned the woods and the road leading to the house. The whole area was pocked with dark patches.
âHow many flashlights do we have?â Burt asked.
âNot enough,â Derek replied. âMaybe three or so and Iâm not sure the batteries are good on all of those. I found a fourth one upstairs, but it did not even have any batteries in it.â
âWell, damn,â Burt muttered. âThe ones we have donât put out enough light to find a shiny penny in a shadow.â
They pondered their dilemma. Would the overhead light in the vehicle be enough to protect them if it was subsidized by a few discount store flashlights? Cecil was hopeful, but he didnât truly believe they had a chance to make it out. There were too many dark patches in the woods. No, the only safe option was to wait a month and let fall do its thing. Of course, they didnât have a month and fall was far behind this year. In spite of several cool spells the last couple of weeks, not a single leaf had changed color yet.
âWeâre going to have to try,â Derek said, breaking the tense silence.
âIâll do it,â Cecil said.
âThe hell you will!â Burt shouted. âYou have a wife and daughâdaughter who needs you!â He stopped himself from saying daughters because Abigail Garrison, Abbs, had been killed yesterday. She disappeared with the other Impals around the world that morning. Cecilâs youngest daughter was in the clutches of General Garrison. Whether he went on this mission or not would not help her. He couldnât get to her even if he knew where she was.
âYou have a wife, Burt!â Cecil snapped. âBesides, Iâm the ranking person here and itâs my decision!â
âWith all due respect, major . Iâm not sure our ranks mean a whole hell of a lot right now!â Burt retorted. âIâm the logical choice.â
Cecil glanced over his shoulder and saw Charlotte and Sally watching them. He jerked his head towards Burt, indicating they needed to tone the volume down.
âI donât care what the ranks are here; Iâm a civilian in any case,â Derek said, dropping his voice to a whisper. âIâm not married, I have no kids, and I have a mother I havenât seen since before I graduated high school. You want to talk about logical choices? Well I am the clear cut choice to do this!â
The argument of who was the most qualified to die continued for several minutes before it was broken up by Sally and Charlotte. The women insisted that nobody was going, not until certain it would be safe. This was their official, public stance, but deep down they knew the men were right. Safe or not, somebody was going to have to attempt
âWell itâs obvious we canât count on him,â Burt said. âEspecially as long as there is alcohol in the house ⦠and even if he runs out, well, you remember what he was like at the camp.â
The three men agreed that any plans made would not include Sam Andrews in the discussions. They would take turns babysitting him to make sure he didnât do anything stupid to harm himself or someone else.
They also agreed that there were about three days of gasoline left, give or take a few hours. It was the take part that worried them. They must prepare a Plan B in case they were unable to get more gas. The problem was, there was no Plan B, at least not a feasible one. No gas meant no electricity, which meant no light, which meant no protection from the dark. They could make it through the days with caution, but the nights would be indefensible. Also, God forbid a thunderstorm came through in the middle of the day. The unanimous decision was that they must figure some way to get out and get gas. There was no alternative. In just three days, unless this phenomenon passed, they would all be taken by the dark.
The three men walked out onto the front porch and scanned the woods and the road leading to the house. The whole area was pocked with dark patches.
âHow many flashlights do we have?â Burt asked.
âNot enough,â Derek replied. âMaybe three or so and Iâm not sure the batteries are good on all of those. I found a fourth one upstairs, but it did not even have any batteries in it.â
âWell, damn,â Burt muttered. âThe ones we have donât put out enough light to find a shiny penny in a shadow.â
They pondered their dilemma. Would the overhead light in the vehicle be enough to protect them if it was subsidized by a few discount store flashlights? Cecil was hopeful, but he didnât truly believe they had a chance to make it out. There were too many dark patches in the woods. No, the only safe option was to wait a month and let fall do its thing. Of course, they didnât have a month and fall was far behind this year. In spite of several cool spells the last couple of weeks, not a single leaf had changed color yet.
âWeâre going to have to try,â Derek said, breaking the tense silence.
âIâll do it,â Cecil said.
âThe hell you will!â Burt shouted. âYou have a wife and daughâdaughter who needs you!â He stopped himself from saying daughters because Abigail Garrison, Abbs, had been killed yesterday. She disappeared with the other Impals around the world that morning. Cecilâs youngest daughter was in the clutches of General Garrison. Whether he went on this mission or not would not help her. He couldnât get to her even if he knew where she was.
âYou have a wife, Burt!â Cecil snapped. âBesides, Iâm the ranking person here and itâs my decision!â
âWith all due respect, major . Iâm not sure our ranks mean a whole hell of a lot right now!â Burt retorted. âIâm the logical choice.â
Cecil glanced over his shoulder and saw Charlotte and Sally watching them. He jerked his head towards Burt, indicating they needed to tone the volume down.
âI donât care what the ranks are here; Iâm a civilian in any case,â Derek said, dropping his voice to a whisper. âIâm not married, I have no kids, and I have a mother I havenât seen since before I graduated high school. You want to talk about logical choices? Well I am the clear cut choice to do this!â
The argument of who was the most qualified to die continued for several minutes before it was broken up by Sally and Charlotte. The women insisted that nobody was going, not until certain it would be safe. This was their official, public stance, but deep down they knew the men were right. Safe or not, somebody was going to have to attempt
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